Shadow Slave

’A tool…’

Sunny wouldn’t have minded receiving a weapon or an armor, but a tool could be incredibly valuable, too. After all, he already had the Sin of Solace — the jade sword was only of the Transcendent Rank, but it still possessed the ability to cut the flesh of Great Nightmare Creatures, albeit with some effort. It was just that Sunny had to create an opportunity to use that ability first.

He also had the Mantle and the Shroud of Dusk, and while neither of them was durable enough to resist an attack by a creature like the Azure Serpent, that problem could be solved by not getting hit.

Both the lack of a suitable weapon and the absence of suitable armor could be solved. A powerful tool, meanwhile, would give Sunny more ways to find the solution. So, he was not disappointed. Feeling both the gentle swaying of the ketch and the silent stillness of his Soul Sea, Sunny continued to study the runes. He hoped that the description of the Crown of Twilight would answer some of his questions.

It read:

Memory Description: [There was a king who ruled over a dying land. The king was valiant and wise. Refusing to embrace despair, he thought of an audacious plan, gathered his companions, and braved the endless desert to enter the Tomb of Ariel, where the Great River flowed endlessly from the future into the past. Thus, the valiant king became a guide who guarded his people in their nightmares. They built a city at the edge of dawn and gathered an army to vanquish that which was defiled. However, in the end, the army was destroyed, the city was lost, and the valiant king himself succumbed to madness. Consumed by wrath and resentment, he turned into a mindless beast and roamed the Great River for countless years. Nothing could withstand his hunger and fury… until, one day, the mad king met a treacherous shadow.

”But what do you even know?” said the shadow. ”Do you think you’re so special? I know fury, too. I know hunger, too. I know madness, too! Oh… and I’ve killed plenty of creatures more powerful than me, too. Who are you to dare stare me down, beast?”

”I am Lost from Light, who was born from the shadows. I am the rightful heir of death and the bastard son of fate. Wherever I go, ruin follows. If you had any sense, you would have run away as soon as you saw me.”

And, true to his word, treacherous Lost from Light battled the mad king, eventually becoming his doom.

That was how the king who had outlived his land died.]

Sunny blinked a couple of times. ’What…’

It seemed that the Spell… had really liked his recent outburst. It even included it, word for word, in the description of the Crown of Twilight!

’Oh, no…’

He looked down and covered his face with a hand.

’Ah… so embarrassing!’

Had Nephis read this already?

Struggling against the desire to fall through the deck of the ketch and drown, Sunny took a deep breath and concentrated on the description. There was still a lot of information contained in the glimmering runes that he needed to ponder. ’So, Daeron came from outside the pyramid. He even fought his way through the Nightmare Desert, as opposed to entering a Seed.’

There was no doubt about it, since those who had conquered a Nightmare of a particular Rank could not enter any Seed of the same Rank again. So a Sovereign wouldn’t be able to challenge a Third Nightmare.

Well… actually, there was some doubt. Nothing about the Tomb of Ariel, and this particular Nightmare, was normal. Still, Sunny believed that he was right. Daeron must have reached the Black Pyramid and entered the true Great River, as opposed to a version of it recreated by the Spell. That next part, however, did not make any sense. He had become a guide who guarded his people in their nightmares? What did it mean? Sunny remained motionless for a while, then frowned. The most obvious answer… was also the most confusing. The Spell created Nightmares based on the past. The Great River, however, existed simultaneously in the past, in the present, and in the future. So, if Daeron had truly entered the real Tomb of Ariel… then he would be present in any recreation of the Great River conjured by the Spell. Therefore, if his subjects challenged a Seed connected to the Black Pyramid, their Sovereign would be waiting for them on the other side, to help them conquer it. ’If I am right… then it was indeed an audacious plan.’

There was just one glaring problem with this theory. It was that the Seeds of Nightmares, and the Nightmares themselves, had not existed in the ancient past of the Dream Realm. No explorer had ever discovered signs that its human inhabitants had possessed knowledge of the Nightmares, and Noctis had not known anything about them either. So how could Daeron come up with a plan to use the uniqueness of the Great River to help his people Transcend through a Nightmare, if there were no Nightmares at that time yet? Then again… Ananke was from a time when the seed of the Spell had already existed. Granted, that time was at the start of the war between the daemons and the gods, so Daeron could not have lived much later — that war was the cataclysm that no one had escaped.

’Argh, so confusing…’

In any case, Daeron’s plan had failed. Although many of his people managed to join him within the Tomb of Ariel, they died trying to destroy ”that which was defiled”... whatever it was. ’Actually, that phrase is perhaps the most important piece of information in the entire description.’

It was important, indeed… because it hinted at the goal of the Nightmare. Which also meant that Sunny, Nephis, and the other members of the cohort would have to succeed where the ancient Sovereign and his army had failed. ’Great.’

Sunny felt a bit of dread at the prospect… but, at the same time, he also felt a little relieved. At least he knew now they wouldn’t really need to search for the mystical estuary of the Great River in order to return to the waking world.

The just had to kill something that even a Sovereign had not been able to kill.

He was going to have to discuss this with Nephis. In the meantime, though…

He still hadn’t learned what his new, shiny Supreme Memory could do. Looking back to the shimmering runes, he read:

Memory Enchantments: [Legacy of Twilight], [King’s Resentment], [Royal Promise]...